THERE has been widespread condemnation of the decision to close a tax office in Bangor with 71 jobs at risk.

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) confirmed 10 office closures in Wales including Ty Glyn on High Street.

The Welsh closures will see 325 jobs go and up to 1,700 jobs will go across the UK which could see 325 jobs lost.

Staff at the Bangor tax office were given confirmation last week of the office closure and it may close in early 2011 with employees encouraged to take redundancy as early as March of this year. There is a small chance some staff could be relocated to Colwyn Bay.

The Public and Commercial Service Union (PCS), which represents staff working in the offices, slammed the decision to make such heavy cutbacks at a time of recession.

Surplus staff will have until Monday, February 8 to decide whether to accept voluntary redundancy on compulsory terms, or risk hanging on in the slim hope of redeployment, with the risk of being made compulsorily redundant in a few months’ time.

Marianne Owens, PCS HMRC group executive committee member for Wales, said: "These office closures were first announced a couple of years ago, in the context of so-called ‘efficiency saving’ intended to deliver 25,000 job cuts in HMRC alone.

"Thousands of jobs have already been lost, undermining service levels and boosting tax evasion and avoidance.

"The office closure programme had stalled, however – having delivered no discernible savings. as the prospects of redeploying staff to alternative jobs within their own areas became increasingly remote, thanks to the recession.

"Now, HMRC has been given the go-ahead to pay off staff willing to take redundancy, in order to shut offices sooner rather than later, at an estimated cost to the taxpayer in excess of £100m.

"Given the very limited opportunities for redeployment for most of those affected, there is little real choice here: staff are being asked to jump before they are pushed."

HMRC had claimed that bringing staff together in larger teams and closing smaller offices will deliver a better service and value for money.

But Arfon's Conservative candidate Robin Millar was dismayed at the news that more public sector jobs are to be lost in Bangor.

"This is terrible news for many, many people and comes at a time of deep recession, high unemployment and strong competition for any jobs that are around" he said.

"Why does Arfon and Wales seem to bear the brunt of this?

"We need a strong and effective voice fighting for our interests where these decisions are being made."

Conwy MP Betty Williams, who had backed the case for T Glyn to stay open, also expressed her disappointment at the announcement.

"The announcement of the closure of the Bangor tax office will be desperately bad news for the staff," she said.

"I believe they put together a very good case for retaining the office and I had no hesitation in supporting them.

"Ultimately however the government concluded that 130 closures were necessary and one had to be Bangor.

"I very much regret this outcome and have offered to meet the staff of T Glyn for a further discussion if they believe it would be helpful."